Shoot a car for the 360
How to photograph a car for a clean listing and a smooth 360 on your website: eight stops around the car, at the same height and distance.
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The same eight photos do two jobs: they are the outside shots of your listing, and they make the car's 360 view that shoppers drag around on your website. The 360 is built from your own photos only, so how you shoot is what the shopper sees.
The steps
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Park in an open spot with even light (shade or an overcast day), with nothing else in the shot and the wheels straight.
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Hold the phone sideways (landscape). Use the normal 1x lens: no zoom, no wide angle, no filters.
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Start at the driver-side front corner. Keep the camera at headlight height, with the whole car in the frame and a little space around it.
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Walk around the car with the car on your right, stopping 8 times: front corner, front, other front corner, side, rear corner, rear, other rear corner, other side.
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Keep the same distance and height at every stop (about 15 feet for most cars). For a smoother 360, add a stop between each one (16 photos).
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Then the details: VIN label, odometer with the car on, dashboard, front seats, rear seats, trunk, engine, wheels, and any damage up close.
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Upload them all at once, in the order you took them (it helps the app tell the car's sides apart). The app reads each photo's angle, sorts them into listing order, and builds the 360 by itself once all eight outside angles are public.
If your listing photo leads with the passenger-side front corner (Settings, Photos), start the walk there instead. The guide in the app follows that setting.
Let the app walk you around
On a phone, Shoot a car on the Inventory page, or Shoot on a car's Photos card, takes you through the same walk one photo at a time, the same way on every car.
- The VIN label comes first. The app reads it at once and names the car, and on a car's own page it checks you're at the right car. If the label won't read, retake it or type the VIN.
- Then the dash with the engine running, and the eight stops. At every stop, fit the car between the two lines: a car is the same height from every side, so the same fit means the same distance.
- Then the inside, the cargo and the engine, and all four wheels. Tap Damage at any step to add a close-up of it.
- Tap Add the photos. You go on to the same review as Add from photos: say what the photos are for, then add the car or put the photos on it.
Each photo uploads while you walk. Each step already says what its photo shows, so the app reads only the VIN, the odometer, any damage and the photo that leads the listing; the rest cost nothing from your AI allowance. Any step but the VIN can be skipped, and the list at the top of the screen takes you back to any step to retake it.
The camera opens inside the app, with the lines to fit the car between. If you'd rather use your phone's own camera app (sharper photos, but no lines), turn on Use the phone's camera app before you start.
Do and don't
Do: Whole car, sideways, 1x lens
Don't: Zoomed in
Don't: Wide lens, up close
Don't: Phone upright
Don't: Bumper cut off
Don't: People or other cars
Build the 360
When all eight outside angles are among the car's public photos tagged Complete, the 360 builds itself (unless Build the 360 on its own is switched off in Settings, Photos); you can always click Build 360 on the car's 360 view card. See Build a 360 view for what it needs, what it costs from your AI allowance, and what hides it again.
FAQ
Why does the 360 say it needs more angles?
It needs one public photo tagged Complete for each of the eight outside stops. The card names the missing ones. A photo whose angle was read wrong can be fixed on the photo (see Check or fix a photo's angle).
Why does the car look like it jumps as it turns?
The photos were taken from different distances or heights. Building the 360 lines the frames up so the car keeps its size, but a steady height and distance still makes the smoothest turn.
Do the interior photos go in the 360?
No. The 360 turns around the outside of the car; interior and detail photos stay in the gallery.